Felid^. MAMMALIA. Felid.®. ] 19 
safety. When a tiger comes, and, perhaps after smell- 
ing all around, begins to rear against the cage, the man 
stabs him with one of the spears through the interstices 
of the wickei’-work, and rarely fails of destroying the 
tiger, which is ordinarily found dead at no great dis- 
tance in the morning.” Another plan, stated by the 
same authority to be employed in Oude, is too amusing 
to pass unnoticed: — “ The track of a tiger being ascer- 
tained, which, though not invariably the same, may 
yet be known sufficiently for the purpose, the peasants 
collect a quantity of the leaves of the prauss, which are 
like those of the sycamore, and are common in most 
underwoods, as they form the larger portion of most 
jungles in the north of India. These leaves are 
smeared with a species of bird-lime, made by bruising 
the berries of an indigenous tree ; they are then strewed 
with the gluten uppermost, near to that opaque spot 
to which, it is understood, the tiger usually resorts 
during the noon -tide heats. If by chance the animal 
should tread on one of the smeared leaves, his fate may 
be considered as decided. He commences by shaking 
his paw, with the view to remove the adhesive incum- 
brance ; but finding no relief from that expedient, he 
rubs the nuisance against his face with the same 
intention, by which means his eyes, ears, &c., become 
agglutinated, and occasion such uneasiness as causes 
him to roll, perhaps among many more of the smeared 
leaves, till at length he becomes completely enveloped, 
and is deprived of sight. In this situation he may be 
compared to a man who has been tarred and feathered. 
The anxiety produced by this strange and novel predi- 
cament soon discovers itself in dreadful howlings, which 
serve to call the watchful peasants, who, in this state, 
find no difficulty in shooting the mottled object of 
detestation.” A more common method of destroying 
tigers is that of shooting them from a moychaun or 
platform. This temporary elevation is ei'ected only 
when a tiger has carried off some animal, and the 
haunt of his concealment has been duly ascertained by 
finding the half-mangled carcase. The platform is then 
rapidly constructed of bamboo or other poles, and raised 
about twenty feet from the ground. On the tiger’s 
return, the native shecarrie, or sportsman, seldom fails 
to kill or mortally wound the beast, for which, on his 
return home, he is amply rewarded by money, gifts, 
and congratulations. In conclusion, we may remark 
that the tiger is capable of being tamed, but its dispo- 
sition is irascible and uncertain. The female usually 
produces from two to four cubs at a birth. 
THE PUMA {Felis concolor), Cougar, or American 
lion, as it is erroneously called, is easily recognized by 
its nearly uniform fawn-coloured fur, which in the 
young state, however, is faintly marked at the sides 
with spots of a rather deep tinge of the same hue. 
The inner sides of the legs, as well as the under parts 
of the throat and belly, are lighter, inclining to white ; 
but the posterior aspect of the ears, especially at the 
base, the sides of the muzzle, and the tip of the tail, 
are black. The body is about four feet six inches, not 
including the tail, which measures some six and twenty 
inches. With regard to its habits, early writers have 
represented the Puma to be an extremely savage 
species. This is indeed quite true, in so far as it 
relates to its depredations among cattle ; but it has 
seldom been known to attack any human being. Mr. 
Lawson, in his “ History of Carolina,” states that his 
prey consists of “ swine’s flesh, deer, or anything he 
can take. No creature is so nice and clean as this in 
his food. When he has got his prey, he fills his belly 
with the slaughter, and carefully lays up the remainder, 
covering it very neatly with leaves, which, if anything 
touches, be never eats any more of it.” The Puma is 
an excellent climber ; but, as a rule, it appears to pre- 
fer the low, swampy, and more open grounds, where 
it may commit terrible havoc among herds of cattle 
pasturing in these situations. It has been known to 
destroy as many as fifty sheep in a single night. The 
Puma formerly occupied an extensive geographical 
range, extending from Canada to Patagonia ; but the 
progress of civilization has made terrible inroads upon 
its haunts, it being now confined to limited areas chiefly 
in the prairies of the north and the marshy lowlands of 
the south. In the Pampas it is hunted and taken with 
the lasso, while in Canada and the States it falls to 
the more surely destructive rifle. When taken young 
the Puma is easily tamed, and in the domesticated 
state, exhibits all the playfulness of a kitten ; while on 
being caressed it utters the characteristic purring 
sound. In the British Museum’s list of Felidse it is 
associated with the leopards. 
TKAILL’S PUMA {Felis unicolor), or Spotless cat, 
appears to be quite distinct, being little more than half 
the size of the true Puma. The body measures thirty- 
two inches, exclusive of the tail, which would give us 
another twenty inches. “ The general hue of this 
species is a beautiful glossy reddish-brown. The 
colour of the whole upper part of the body, including 
the head and tail, has a considerable resemblance to 
that of a dark bay horse. The tint becomes gradually 
paler on the sides and under part of the neck, and 
passes by imperceptible shades into an ochry brown on 
the belly. When closely examined, the darker colour 
of the back is partly owing to an intermixture of 
blackish-brown hairs with the rest of the fur. The 
hair over the body is rather short, like that usually 
seen on a smooth Spanish pointer.” Dr. Traill further 
observes, by way of comparison, that “ the head of the 
Spotless cat is much more pointed, its nose more 
elevated, and its limbs are much more slender in pro- 
portion to its size, than in the puma. The strength of 
the jaws and size of the teeth are likewise proportion- 
ally less. In the puma the backs of the ears are black; 
in our animal they are of the same colour as the 
adjacent parts. The tail of the puma is claviform, or 
appears thickened towards the tip, which is black ; but 
the tail of the Spotless cat is nearly of one thickness 
throughout, and it wants the conspicuous black tip.” 
All that our authority has recorded of its habits may 
be summed up in a few words, namely, that it occupies 
the interior of large forests, preying upon monkeys, 
quadrupeds, and birds. 
THE LION {Felis Leo ) — Plate 8, fig. 28— occupies a 
much wider geographical range than the tiger, especially 
if we regard the Gambian and maneless forms as mere 
varieties of a single species. The latter kind are found 
in the Indian territory of Guzerat, and in the adjacent 
